Foreign Enrollment Drops at US Colleges ; US Higher Education Is Coming to Grips with a Slow Economy, Visa Delays, and Aggressive Competition from Other English-Speaking Countries

For the first time since 1971, American colleges and universities
have seen a falloff in the number of foreign students.

Visa delays have caused thousands of potential applicants to
wonder if it's worth the hassle to try to study in the United
States. But even as progress is made on speeding up visas, US higher
education is coming to grips with other trends that could weaken its
magnetic pull on the world's scholars: a slow economy, the growth of
higher education in places like China and India, and aggressive
competition from other English-speaking countries.

"Competition is out there, and that's not just a phenomenon
that's part of the post 9/11 period; that started well before, and I
think we were a little bit asleep at the wheel because the US had
been so dominant as a destination for international students," says
Ursula Oaks, a spokeswoman for NAFSA: Association of International
Educators in Washington.

Foreign enrollment was down 2.4 percent in 2003-04, according to
the latest "Open Doors" report by the Institute of International
Education (IIE). Some universities saw drops as big as 23 percent.

Overall, undergraduates from abroad declined 5 percent, while
graduate students increased 2.5 percent. Offsetting that news on the
graduate-student front, however, is a snapshot of first-time
international enrollments this fall by the Council of Graduate
Schools (CGS), which shows a 6 percent reduction.

Some countries are using horror stories about the US visa process
to market themselves as better alternatives, but it's mainly the
coordinated efforts of governments and universities in other English-
speaking countries that have caused their foreign enrollments to
rise as America's fall.

Australia, Britain, and even Canada have boosted their foreign-
student enrollments by double-digit percentages in recent years.

Five international education groups joined together last week and
called on President Bush to work with experts on a national strategy
to keep foreign students flowing in.

The goodwill these students generate around the world after
learning about American society firsthand is essential post 9/11,
they argue. In addition, many graduate programs, especially in math
and sciences, depend heavily on foreign talent. International
students bring about $13 billion a year into the US economy.

In the short term, "we need to be thinking about a major PR
effort to convince international graduate students that they are
welcome here and that it's not as difficult to get a visa as maybe
it was a year or two ago," says John Ebersole, associate provost and
dean of extended education at Boston University.

Meanwhile, individual schools are doing what they can to boost
recruitment and make life easier for applicants and current
students.

Indiana University decided to offer more scholarships this year
after it saw its foreign applications drop by 21 percent for
graduate students and 14 percent for undergrads. International
students have always been eligible for $1,000 to $6,000 of merit
aid. But in addition, IU now offers $1,000 to anyone who doesn't win
those awards.

"We've been contacted by a number of alumni groups around the
world, and they are interested in doing everything they can to
assist us," says Christopher Viers, associate dean and director of
the office of international services. "Some have recently put
together funds to support [IU] students from their home
countries.... [Our Korean alumni] designated funds for the student
association to help them continue to inform the campus about their
country and culture."

IU is also speeding up the application process to give students
more time for security clearances. …

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